Monday, September 10, 2012 12:17:07 PMBasic bio-degradable box. Woodland burial. Minimum fuss, minimum cost. Take anything useful first (although, slim chance of that) free of charge. Coffins are one of those many things that the more they cost the tackier they get.

But if you insist on splurging money, hire some old-style Victorian professional mourners.

I wouldn't be able to see my deceased loved one - they're dead. They're not there any more. The corpse left after they're dead isn't them. It's just a corpse. It makes no difference what material it's lying on.

Monday, September 10, 2012 11:17:43 AMI've never known exactly why caskets have to be so plush and comfy-looking on the inside. Does that actually make the people who are alive feel better?

It makes the death more profitable for the company selling coffins. You can get a much bigger profit margin out of the living if the coffin looks more luxurious - luxury has a huge profit margin and you can leverage their grief into your profits.

A business would be extremely unlikely to be as crude about doing so as deathcab4aj was when she wrote "would you rather see your decease loved one lying on a bed of nails?", but that's the basic idea. Grief --> guilt --> profit.

Which is why coffins like this look very ugly to me.

If anyone wants to throw away some money when I'm dead and pretend it has anything to do with me, I'd prefer them to do something nicer with it. Buy a nice bench in a park and put a plaque on it. Plant a tree. Buy a cow for a desperately poor f

Monday, September 10, 2012 7:40:42 AMI've never known exactly why caskets have to be so plush and comfy-looking on the inside. Does that actually make the people who are alive feel better?

I wrote a software system for a funeral directors once, and got to see some of these up close. They're not that comfy, they just look it. If you feel the base it's just satin-lined hardwood with a waterproof liner to prevent any fluids from seeping. :S